The Relationship between College Students' Part-time Job Engagement and Their Professional Learning

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate college students’ reasons for engaging in part-time job employment and its relation to their professional learning. The research instruments included a short survey of students' background, a six-point Likert Scale questionnaire of part time job motivation, working performance, job ability enhancement, career planning, influence of part-time job, English learning motivation, and English learning anxiety. The results showed that students had higher mean in English learning years, English reading time, and learning motivation. Except for career orientation, students had stronger parts of work and work achievement and job capability enhancement, but there were no significant differences in genders and social class in students' part time work engagement and English work motivation and anxiety. In addition, there were significant differences of genders, social class, and genders in students part work engagement, and there was no significant difference in gender between students and parents. The findings showed that gender, part time experience, English learning motives and anxiety were found to be related to students' part-time job engagement in one way or another, and both parents and teachers should not only hold a positive attitude toward students, but also encourage students to bear in mind that education should always be the priority in the learning stage.